- Aldis signed with the WWE last year as a backstage authority figure on the show
- He has been going back and forth with long-running champions Reigns on TV
- The Brit had high praise for ‘the best’ Paul Heyman, insisting he sets the standard
WWE SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis has opened up on his relationship with Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, and his advocate Paul Heyman.
Aldis finally joined the WWE last year as an authority figure, taking a backstage role rather than competing as an in-ring wrestler as many thought would happen earlier in his career.
One of his on-screen duties has been keeping control of Reigns, who, in character, likes to try and control things on SmackDown as the long-running champion.
Reigns and Heyman have history of intimidating now-RAW general manager Adam Pearce but Aldis has stood up to him, most recently putting the champion in a Fatal 4-Way match with Randy Orton, LA Knight and AJ styles at the Royal Rumble.
Speaking exclusively to Mail Sport’s Alex McCarthy, Aldis detailed his on-screen relationship with Reigns and explained how the natural chemistry between two allowed him to hit the ground running in WWE.
WWE SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis (pictured) has opened up on his on-screen chemistry with Roman Reigns
The two have clashed on-screen, with Reigns (right) the company’s main champions and Aldis, on-screen, running the show
When I if I have television time with Paul Heyman, my job is to hang,’ Aldis said. ‘My job, no matter what, is to make sure that I am perceived as comparable as a character.
‘My thought on that is that if I can hang with Heyman, and then if I can hang with Roman, I have a certain level of status with all the superstars. Roman’s status is a class by himself as a character. So that that interaction was very important for my character development.’
‘To be given the opportunity to so early on in my WWE career to be presented in that way with Roman, to be presented as an equal in terms of status, that’s not lost on me. And I made my on-screen debut as part of Triple H’s in-ring promo, so there’s no complaints on my end.’
Heyman, who has worked with the WWE for decades, is Reigns’ right-hand-man, doing all he can to make the champion happy on screen.
While he and Aldis have clashed as characters a number of times, Aldis couldn’t speak higher of the work Heyman has done in the company.
Reigns and Paul Heyman (left) have had issues with Aldis, most recently when Reigns was put in a Fatal 4-Way match at the Royal Rumble
Aldis was full of praise for Heyman, who he described as one of the best talkers of all-time in the business
‘I would add to that I feel like there’s a good strong chemistry between me and Paul Heyman, and that is the extra element to that particular story arc,’ Aldis said. ‘That’s, really unique and interesting.
‘As much as he and I will butt heads on television, I will say, as Nick Aldis the producer, the the studier of sports entertainment, for those particular set of skills, Paul Heyman is probably the best person to study.
‘He’s probably the best in his best to ever do it. I’ve always felt like Paul, Bobby Heenan and Jim Cornette are the three most talented, extemporaneous speakers in the history of the business.’
Royal Rumble, Saturday 27th, WWE Network and TNT Sports Box Office
